character

Meet Walden Schmidt. That’s the name of the new character being played by Ashton Kutcher on “Two and a Half Men.” According to CBS entertainment chief Nina Tassler, he’s an “internet billionaire with a broken heart.”

Predictably, Tassler was hit with a barrage of questions about Kutcher and the messy exit made by Charlie Sheen, the actor he’s replacing in the popular sitcom.

Refusing to dwell on the past, Tassler said she’s pleased to have, in Kutcher, an actor who “comes with commitment and enthusiasm.”

Other than that, Tassler was pretty tight-lipped on everything regarding the past and future of “Two and a Half Men.” She, for example, would neither confirm or deny rumors that the season would open with a funeral for Sheen’s character, Charlie Harper. She also declined to reveal information on how Kutcher’s character would be introduced, preferring hat it remain a “mystery.”

“It’s going to be a big event and the chatter and the conversation is a part of what the fun of it can be,” she said.

Production on the opening episode of “Two and a Half Men” began this Monday.

“You could cut the air (on the set) with a knife,” Tassler said. “A tremendous amount of weight and effort are being put into this episode.”

When asked if the network had put any policies in place to deal with actors who exhibited “erratic behavior” in the future, Tassler replied, “That would probably be every actor in the business. That would be a little hard.”